


They Almost All Knows How To Read

by orphan_account



Series: Kings of New York [5]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: M/M, newsies au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2016-03-16
Packaged: 2018-05-27 04:06:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6268918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aaron had two problems.</p>
<p>The first problem was that he didn't know how to read.</p>
<p>His other problem was Alexander Hamilton.</p>
            </blockquote>





	They Almost All Knows How To Read

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first story I've written for a Newsies AU I'm working on. I've figured out mostly everybody's backstories, but I'm still working on the main story (which will take place during the newsboys strike). You don't really need to have watched Newsies to read this, but if you haven't you really should because it's great. 
> 
> For those of you who haven't watched Newsies, this takes place in the 1890s.

Aaron had two problems.

The first problem was that he didn’t know how to read.

Now, it wasn’t like he was the only boy living in the lodging house who couldn’t read.  There were younger boys who had never been taught by their parents before they died, or before they ran away.  There were also immigrants from non-English speaking countries who still had trouble speaking the language, let alone reading it.

The reason this was a problem for Aaron was because he was neither one of the younger boys nor an immigrant.  He was 15 years old and had been living in New York his entire life.

It wasn’t completely his fault he didn’t know how to read.  His parents had both died when he was still a baby, so there was no way for them to teach him.  After their death, he moved in with his grandmother, who was sick all the time and unable to teach him.  

After her death, he became a newsie.  Since he was unable to read, he would always just listen to the other boys discussing the headlines every morning at the distribution center and call out those headlines when selling.

By the time Aaron was old enough to realize that reading was an important skill he should probably learn, he felt too embarrassed to ask anyone for help.  He just accepted that this problem was never going to go away.

Aaron’s other problem was Alexander Hamilton.  

Alexander had first shown up on Christmas about three years ago.  

He became friends right away with Lafayette, but for some reason, still spent time with Aaron nearly every day.  Usually this time involved Alex discussing some of the articles that had been in that day’s newspaper.  At first Aaron had found this annoying, but after a few weeks he began looking forward to his time with Alex.  Fortunately, Alex always started the conversation himself, so he never found out about Aaron’s reading problem.  He'd always just listen to Alex explain what the article was about, and then would discuss it. 

A little over a year after Alexander had first arrived at the lodging house, Aaron had started distancing himself from him.  He'd realized he was becoming too close to Alex.  The only two people he’d ever felt close to had died, and it wasn't something he wanted to have to go through again.  Whenever Alexander tried to start a conversation with him now, he would give excuses so they wouldn’t have to talk.

He still cared for Alex, of course.  He’d helped him out that one time with the Reynold’s incident.  He’d also worried the entire month Alex had been in the Refuge.  He still worried about him now.  Alex had only just gotten out of the Refuge a few months ago, and he’d been different since he came back.  He almost never tried to start a conversation with Aaron anymore which worried him a lot.  

***

Currently, Aaron was making his way back to the lodging house for the night.  He’d just sold his last paper and was hoping he’d be able to get a little extra sleep for tomorrow. The past few nights he’d had trouble sleeping, and today he’d nearly fallen asleep while out selling.

He arrived at the lodging house the same time as Alexander.  Neither of them spoke as they both walked inside, which was now becoming normal.  They each paid their six cents to stay the night and headed upstairs.  Still neither of them spoke.

Alexander went and climbed into his bunk, while Aaron went into the washroom to get ready for bed.  As he was about to leave the washroom, Alexander came in.  Aaron tried to slip past him to get to bed, but Alex stopped him by grabbing onto his wrist.

“I have to ask you something,” he said.  “It’s been bugging me for a while, and I’m really curious.”

Aaron stayed silent, so Alex just continued. “Well, I’ve been observing you recently, and I’m not sure if I’m right or not, but anyways can you read?”

Aaron felt his face get hot. This wasn't supposed to happen. “I...Well, of course I can read. Why would you even ask that?”

“I know you’re lying. You never read the paper.  I’ve never even seen you look at the headlines on the first page.  As I’ve been observing you, you always yell out the headlines the other boys do in the mornings even when they make them up.  I’ve never seen you as the type to make up stories to sell you papers.”

Aaron felt like he couldn’t breathe.  Nobody was supposed to find out, especially not Alexander.  He would probably tell all the other boys, and they would all make fun of him. “Don’t you _dare_ tell anyone, Alexander.  If you do I’ll tell the police about what happened with the Reynolds.”

Alexander’s eyes got wide, and he looked like he was starting to panic. “You-you can’t do that.  You promised.  You’d get in trouble too. You helped us.”

“Well we shouldn’t have to worry about that because you’re not telling anybody, right?” Aaron asked, and Alex nodded.  “Good.  Now would you please leave me alone.  I’d like to get some sleep.”  He gently pushed Alexander to the side and left him alone in the washroom.

***

The next morning, Aaron felt awful. He was so worried Alex might tell somebody about his reading problem, he thought he was going to throw up.  To make matters worse, he kept noticing Alexander giving him weird looks, and he was pretty sure Alex was silently making fun of him for being unable to read.

Aaron went through his normal routine for the rest of the day, and tried not to think about Alex.  He bought his regular fifty papers, sold to all his regular customers, then went to his regular selling spot to sell the rest.  He took a quick break around noon to grab some lunch, and afterwards he went back to his spot to sell the rest.

After he sold his last paper, Aaron slowly made his way back to the lodging house.  He wasn’t in any hurry today, of course, because he knew Alex would be there, and he would most likely try to bug him about his reading issue again.

Unfortunately, Alexander must have been waiting for him, because as soon as he stepped in the door, Alex grabbed onto his hand and started leading him away up the stairs. In his other hand he was holding what appeared to be a notebook and a pencil.

“Do you mind telling me where we’re going?” Aaron asked as he was basically dragged up the stairs.

“We’re going to the roof,” Alex stated.

“Why exactly?”

He turned his head towards Aaron and smiled. “It’s a surprise.  You’ll see.”

When they got to the roof, Alex plopped right down and opened up the notebook on his lap.  He motioned for Aaron to sit next to him, so he did.

“I’m going to teach you how to read,” said Alex.  “I bought a pencil and notebook just for us to use for lessons.  My mom taught me to read when I was younger, and she always bought me books to read, so I promise I’ll be a good teacher.”

Aaron immediately stood back up.  “I don’t need your help.  It’s not like I’ll never need to know how to read.  I’m just going to end up with a factory job, and you don't need to read for that.”

Aaron started to make his way back towards the stairs, but Alex stood up and grabbed his wrist to stop him. “You don’t have to get a factory job.  There’s no way that that’s what you want.  You can be successful.  Just let me teach you.  Nobody else has to know.”

Aaron stood there for a moment trying to decide what to do.  He figured nothing bad could come out of reading lessons from Alex.  Maybe Alex was right and someday he would actually get a decent job and wouldn't have to work in a factory.  He also liked the idea of spending time alone with Alex.  He just wouldn’t get too close.

“I’ll stay,” he decided.

Alex grinned at him, and Aaron smiled back slightly. The two of them sat back down next to each other, and the first lesson began.

***

They agreed to meet on the roof around the same time every day.  Occasionally, one of them wouldn’t be able to make it, but they would tell the other at some point during the day.  The lessons were also cancelled if the weather was bad.

Alexander would usually write some words down in the notebook and teach Aaron how to read them.  Sometimes Aaron would be told to write down some words himself.  He was improving a lot, and he was glad he was finally learning how to read.

They were lucky that it was summer, since it stayed light out longer allowing for longer lessons.  Sometimes they would take breaks from the lessons and just lay next to each other on the roof staring up at the clouds.  

More than once, both of them had fallen asleep together and hadn’t woken up again until morning.  A few of these times, Aaron had woken up with Alexander sleeping on top of him which made him all flustered.

Today was just like most days when they had their lessons.  They were currently taking a break.  Alexander was talking, but Aaron had stopped paying attention a while ago. He was too busy trying not to panic over the fact that Alex was leaning against him.  

He hated how he was feeling.  He’d told himself not to get too close to Alex because he would just end up losing him like everybody else he'd ever cared about.  Another problem was that the way he cared about Alex was different than how he’d felt about anybody else, and he didn’t understand it.  He was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to feel this way.

“So what do you think?” Alex asked, startling Aaron from his thoughts.

“What?”

“Were you even listening to what I said?”

“Not really. No.”

Alexander let out a sigh.  “Well I was just wondering if -”  Before Aaron knew what was happening, his lips were pressed up against Alex’s.  

When he realized what what happening, he pulled away as quickly as possible.  Alex’s eyes were wide open, and his mouth was hanging open in shock.

“I’m so sorry. Please don’t tell anyone,” Aaron said and stood up.  He ran off and started to climb back down from the roof.  He heard Alex yell for him to wait, but he kept going until he was downstairs in his bunk trying not to cry over how stupid he’d been.

***

Aaron hadn’t seen Alex all day, and he was pretty sure he was avoiding him.  He was also pretty sure that his reading lessons were probably done.  He’d been waiting up on the roof for a while, and was beginning to think Alex just wasn’t going to show up at all.  He was already running pretty late.

About half an hour later, Alexander showed up, looking out of breath. He must have run all the way up the stairs.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said, then paused to catch his breath.  “Philip’s leg was hurting really bad today, so I had to carry him back which slowed me down a bit.”  He sat down and opened up the notebook to a blank page.

When Aaron didn’t move to sit next to him, Alex looked up and frowned. “What?”

“Aren’t you going to ask about what happened yesterday? Aren’t you mad?  I kissed you, and I know I shouldn’t have.”

“It’s not a big deal.  I didn’t mind it.”

“You didn’t? Are you serious?”

Alexander shrugged.  “Well, it shocked me, of course, but I kinda liked it I guess.”

Aaron finally decided to sit down next to him and he frowned.  “How could you like it? We’re both boys, and we shouldn’t like each other like that, right? We're _supposed_ to like girls.”

“I don't see any problem with it. It’s not like anybody needs to know." He paused for a moment. then asked, "So would you like to do it again?”

Aaron thought for a second.  He wanted to, but he'd promised himself not to get too close.  He sighed and nodded slowly.

This time, Alexander kissed _him_.

***

A few months later, John showed up and ruined everything.

**Author's Note:**

> If you'd like to ask anything my tumblr is kingof-santafe.


End file.
